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"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Matthew 5:14-15

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:45-46

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Faith in the Wind

"During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.""Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water.""Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down." Mathew 14: 25-32.

These verses have been on my mind the past day or so. We arrived home from Florida late Friday evening. Saturday morning I was up very early to take my boys to meet the bus that was taking them to a missions conference for the day. I had been awake for a couple hours, so when I arrived back home I crawled back in bed.

Several hours later my husband and I started unpacking. Well, I should say that I started unpacking, he started working on our other car. We noticed just before we left that it was starting to sound like it was having muffler problems. I guess because we had a lot of rain while we were gone, the problem got worse and now is in need of attention. My husband did what he was hoping was a temporary fix, but unfortunately it did not hold.

In the midst of trying to fix the car, my husband went to go out our side garage door. When he opened it, the frame fell completely off. We knew it was getting in bad shape, but...

Sunday morning found us oversleeping. The alarm got set for PM instead of AM. I could blame it on having to change all of the clocks that were still on old time instead of daylight savings and being bleary eyed when I actually set the alarm. Sigh. We managed to still all get ready in time to leave early for church since my oldest son was ushering that morning. We were just heading out the door when my husband could not find his wallet and keys. After about five minutes of searching, to no avail, I got the idea that I could drive us.

Yesterday I started having seeds of doubt about a major decision we made while we were on vacation. On Saturday my husband and I had prayed together because we knew that after having a wonderful time away, we now were experiencing trials and temptations or spiritual attack. It was easy to be encouraging to my husband when it was issues that he dealt with, not so easy when I experienced it as well.

So here I am thinking about when Peter was in the water with Jesus. He became afraid, doubting and overwhelmed. Jesus simply reached out His hand and grasped hold of Peter. But it was not until they were actually back in the boat that the wind calmed down.

I want to hold on to what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

I included a photo of our family at Epcot Center as a reminder to me of the great times we had on our vacation together. It also refreshes my memory of the spiritual truths that we learned on our trip. I know that no matter what we face, I can trust Jesus.

3 comments:

I loved reading your story!Been there...I have to always remind myself "A mighty fortress is my God, a bulwark NEVER failing." I faint and fail. He doesn not. I bet you drove right through Charlotte on your way to Epcot. or did you fly?

Jodie Wolfe

I have had an interest in writing since I was a little girl. I have written poetry, fiction, Bible studies, and nonfiction. I especially enjoy writing and teaching women's Bible studies. I have been married to my best friend for almost 28 years. I have two sons which I home schooled for 16 years.
For those of you interested in reading more of my musings, feel free to check out http://www.jodiewolfe.com, http://puttingonthenew.com and http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com.